A Prospective Double Blind Study to Evaluate and Compare the Efficacy and Safety of Oral Gabapentin and Oral Clonidine in Reducing Post-Operative Pain and Morphine Consumption in Patients Undergoing Elective Gastrectomy

Background: Preoperative medication has a vital role in anesthesia. Gabapentin and Clonidine are compounds, which have been alleged to possess anxiolytic, analgesic, and anticonvulsant properties. The present study evaluated the clinical efficacy of oral premedication with Gabapentin and Clonidine in reducing the postoperative pain and opioid consumption in patients undergoing Gastrectomy. Methodology: Prospective, randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study was conducted on ninety patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists Grade I and II of age group 45–65 years, allocated to one of the three groups of thirty patients each. Group I received Tab Gabapentin 600mg mg, Group II received Clonidine 100 µg and Group III received placebo at 10:00 pm at 10: 00 pm the night before and 1 h before the surgery. A uniform anaesthetic technique was used in all groups. Parameters including sedation scores, post operative pain, opioid consumption and various side effects were assessed. Results: Demographic variables were comparable. The VAS pain scores at measured times were significantly lower in the gabapentin (4.43± 0.504, 3.53±0.507, 2.53± 0.506, 1.33±0.479,0.55±0.507) group as compared to clonidine ( 5.03± 0.183, 4.93± 0.450, 3.60± 0.724, 1.80± 0.847,0.93±0.450) and placebo group (5.70±0.651, 4.63±0.490 , 4.43±0.504, 3.10±0.712, 1.77±0.679). The post-operative opioid consumption in Gabapentin group (15.57±1.01 mg) was significantly less than Clonidine (19.7±1.64 mg, P<0.05) and placebo groups (25.37±0.99 mg) P<0.001. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the postoperative complications. Number of patients required > one dose of rescue analgesic were highest in placebo (30) group as compared to group I (3) and group II (9). Conclusion: Our study concluded that administration of 1200mg of gabapentin or 200µg clonidine preoperatively significantly reduces VAS score and opioid consumption when compared to placebo in patients undergoing Gastrectomy. Also Gabapentin was more effective than clonidine in reducing postoperative pain and morphine use for analgesia.